2006-08-15_Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Draft Resolutions from June 10, 2006 meeting discussion p. 2 of 3 • The new Property Maintenance Code does not pr ovide the necessary “t ools” or authority to address this issue. • The City Council lengthened the process for addressing complaints through action taken about four years ago. This action prohibits st aff from going directly to the City attorney to resolve complaints and prot racts the process by giving property owners against whom complaints have been lodged the right to public hearings before the Council prior to the City taking complaints to Ramsey County Cour t. This process ex acerbates the problem by not reaching a quick resolu tion to neighborhood problems. Ideas/Suggestions for Recommendations • Send a stronger letter from the City as a first response. This approach works well for multi-family property managers. It creates an opportunity for discussion and resolution of the problem. The letter states, “You have given the impression that…”. • Streamline the process. Lobby the C ouncil to reverse previous action or accelerate the timeline for resolving complaints. • Issue City citations—“tickets”—like it would for piles of tires in a yard. • Work through existing Zoning Code to the extent possible. • Prepare and make availabe standard leas es that explicitly limit the number of occupants. Ask landlords to use them. • Adopt a phased approach—1) begin with an education program; 2) enforce the newly adopted Property Maintenance Code ; and 3) re-evaluate the need for a licensing program and, if needed, 4) adopt and implement a licensing program. • Develop an ordinance to a ddress chronic problem prope rties (New Brighton has a progressive program for deali ng with chronic problems.) ISSUE: Parking—There is an ove r abundance of cars, which crowd streets especially in winter and sometimes are parked on lawns. • Parking is addressed in the Zoning Code. Ideas/Suggestion for Recommendations • Enforce the Zoning Code • Review the Zoning Code a nd revise if necessary ISSUE: Data/Records—There is inadequate data to accurately track several trends related to housing complaints and conversio n of owner-occupied to rental and to enforce codes, e.g. difficult to track down rental property owners to notify them of problems. • City data not always updated and different data sets are not always in usable formats or compatible with each other • City lacks funds to complete data updating and conversion • City Utility billing form s, if properly modified, could be a great vehicle for data gathering Ideas/Suggestions for Recommendations • Allocate a portion of HRA levy for data processing and management